Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memoranda and I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

ACT GOVERNMENT LOAN BILL 2014

The ACT Government Loan Bill underpins the Government's decision to provide a concessional loan to the ACT Government of up to $1 billion to undertake a loose-fill asbestos remediation programme.

The ACT Government faces significant challenges in dealing with the remediation of loose-fill asbestos across the Territory.

The one-off size and cost of dealing with this issue represents about a fifth of the Australian Capital Territory's annual budget.

Without the Commonwealth's assistance, the ACT's capacity to deal with this issue would have been significantly curtailed and put at threat its own credit rating.

The loan will ensure that the ACT Government is in a position to deliver a well-structured remediation programme in the coming years.

The Bill provides authority for the Commonwealth to enter into a loan agreement with the ACT for an amount that must not exceed $1 billion.

The terms and conditions of the loan will be set out in the loan agreement. The Minister administering the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 may enter into the loan agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth. The Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development has responsibility for that Act.

The Bill also appropriates $750 million from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2014-15 for the purposes of making payments under the loan agreement. The appropriation will be brought into existence on the day after it receives Royal Assent. The remaining $250 million will be appropriated through the 2015-16 Budget.

The ACT Government has also introduced legislation this week seeking to appropriate funding for the remediation programme reflecting this split across years.

A Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statement will be tabled in the Parliament.

ACTS AND INSTRUMENTS (FRAMEWORK REFORM) BILL 2014

This Bill seeks to improve the operation and clarity of legislative frameworks for Commonwealth Acts and instruments. It is an important deregulatory measure that will create administrative efficiencies across government, while enhancing the public accessibility of Commonwealth laws.

The key purpose of the Bill is to reform the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

The Legislative Instruments Act came into force in 2005 and provides a comprehensive regime for the registration, tabling, scrutiny and sunsetting (or automatic repeal) of Commonwealth legislative instruments.

It ensures that members of the public, businesses, regulatory agencies, lawyers and courts can easily access complete and authoritative legislative instruments and their explanatory statements on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. This is an important mechanism for ensuring access to justice.

In 2008, a statutory review of the Legislative Instruments Act was conducted by a committee comprising two senior members of the Commonwealth public service and the then Commonwealth Ombudsman. The committee consulted a broad range of stakeholders, with the release of an issues paper and over 60 responses to that paper. The committee also held extensive meetings with interested stakeholders.

The review found that the Legislative Instruments Act had been largely successful in improving public access and facilitating parliamentary scrutiny of legislative instruments. It also found that a number of improvements could be made to the scheme and released a number of recommendations.

Following the review, measures have been implemented to strengthen the legislative instruments framework.

There has been a significant amount of work to manage the sunsetting of legislative instruments across the Commonwealth. This has included the Government's efforts over both Repeal Days this year to repeal over 10,000 spent and redundant legislative instruments from the statute books.

The sunsetting of older legislative instruments also presents a unique opportunity for the Government to reduce red tape, deliver clearer and simpler laws, and align existing legislation with current government policy.

Technical enhancements have been made to the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments to ensure a high level of performance and useability, and to support the sunsetting of legislative instruments.

Further, the Attorney-General's Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel have issued new guidance materials to help Commonwealth rule-makers and agencies to manage their legislative instruments efficiently, effectively and in accordance with the law.

But there is still more work to do to enhance access to instruments and to improve the efficiency and operation of the scheme. Some of this work follows the recommendations of the review, and some of it comes from the experience gained by the passage of time with the scheme now in place for almost 10 years.

This Bill seeks to simplify and consolidate legislative frameworks for the publication of Commonwealth Acts and the registration of Commonwealth instruments, into a single Act. The Bill will implement this change by renaming the Legislative Instruments Act the Legislation Act 2003 and repealing the Acts Publication Act 1905.

The current database of Commonwealth Acts and the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments, which are both accessed through ComLaw, will be integrated into a single Register called the Federal Register of Legislation. Importantly, this Register will provide users with the ability to access other documents and information relevant to Commonwealth laws.

There are other types of instruments made by the Commonwealth that are not made as legislative instruments as they are not legislative in character. These instruments do not currently need to be published on the Federal Register. Historically, many of these instruments were published in paper form only. Over time, there have been efforts to ensure that instruments are published electronically and able to be accessed by users online.

The problem is that instruments are published in many different places, including in various government gazettes, on agency websites or portals or in newspapers. This makes it difficult for users to find these instruments or to even be aware they exist. It also places a burden on agencies to manage their stock of instruments and ensure they have adequate infrastructure in place to support the publication of these instruments.

The Bill helps to address this problem. It expands the scope of the legislative instruments framework to cover a new category of instruments, called notifiable instruments. This means that instruments which are not legislative in character can also be registered on the centrally managed and authoritative Federal Register of Legislation, which will allow them to be more readily publicised and accessed.

These amendments will align the processes for registration, compilations and authorised versions for Acts and a broader range of instruments. The amendments will also enable the First Parliamentary Counsel to make minor editorial changes in preparing registered compilations of Acts and instruments that do not change the effect of the legislation.

These amendments will produce administrative efficiencies across government.

Consistent with the Government's deregulation agenda and efforts to promote clearer and simpler laws, the Bill will enable bulk amendments or repeals arising from the thematic review of instruments to be made more quickly and simply. In consultation with the relevant rule makers, the Attorney General will be able to advise the Governor-General to make a single instrument that would give effect to such a review across government portfolios.

The Bill will help clarify and better define legislative instruments and legislative character to ensure that instruments are made in their appropriate form and able to be enforceable by registration as legislative instruments on the Register.

It will move certain content from the Act to regulations to help consolidate detail that may be more suitably placed in delegated legislation and which may need to be updated regularly.

It will also allow the First Parliamentary Counsel to make rules about matters for the purpose of meeting his or her obligation to maintain a consistent, accurate and up to date Register.

This mechanism will facilitate a level of procedural detail that may not be appropriate for including in the Act or the regulations. The rules will be a legislative instrument, which means they will be subject to parliamentary oversight.

The Bill also clarifies consultation requirements for the drafting of legislative instruments to ensure that the requirement of rule makers to undertake appropriate consultation applies equally to instruments that affect business and competition and those that do not.

Further, the Bill will remove transitional mechanisms for dealing with instruments made before the Legislative Instruments scheme was introduced in 2005. It will amend numerous other Acts to make clear in enabling legislation that certain instruments are legislative or notifiable instruments for the purpose of the Legislation Act, and update references to repealed provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and the repealed Statutory Rules Publication Act 1905 to relevant provisions in the Legislation Act.

Consequently, the Bill repeals the Legislative Instruments (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003 which will become redundant.

The Bill will also amend other Acts to convert gazettal or other publication requirements into requirements to register an instrument on the Federal Register where this would be appropriate or would reflect current practice.

Certain provisions on the statute book that provide an implied power to make an instrument will be updated to expressly confer a power to make an instrument. This will not change the effect of those provisions but will remove any doubt about whether such provisions are effective in conferring power.

The Bill will repeal section 46B of the Acts Interpretation Act, which provides for non-legislative disallowable instruments, and makes consequential amendments to laws that provide for these instruments. This will reduce the number of disallowance regimes for instruments, encourage a reduction in separate gazettal procedures, and enhance the status of the Federal Register as a central repository and authoritative source of Commonwealth legislative instruments.

Finally, the Bill will amend the Acts Interpretation Act to expand and simplify the provisions dealing with machinery of government changes.

The amendments will broaden the rules for interpreting references to ministers and departments in legislation, and for interpreting references to authorities in agreements entered into by or on behalf of the Commonwealth.

This will provide more legal certainty for the ongoing valid exercise of powers and functions immediately following machinery of government changes.

The Bill will not alter the processes for the consideration of Bills and legislative instruments by Parliament. The measures in the Bill will not substantially alter the way in which Acts are handled under the existing publication regime.

This Bill provides the opportunity for significant reforms to the legislative frameworks for Commonwealth Acts and instruments. It will create administrative efficiencies across the government, helping to reduce 'beige tape' which can cause large imposts on government agencies. It will also facilitate efforts to reduce red tape. Most importantly, this Bill will promote the principle of access to justice by enhancing the accessibility of Commonwealth laws.

FEDERAL COURTS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2014

The Federal Courts Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 will make minor, technical and uncontroversial amendments to improve the operation and clarity of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999.

The Bill will also confer jurisdiction on the Federal Circuit Court of Australia to hear certain Commonwealth tenancy disputes. This is the most cost effective and efficient forum to hear these disputes.

Federal Court of Australia Act amendments

The amendments to the Federal Court of Australia Act will clarify that appeals cannot be made from minor procedural decisions, such as decisions to change hearing dates. This will reduce delays in the court system to ensure more efficient administration of justice.

Additionally, the amendments will clarify that police officers and court sheriffs can use reasonable force to enter premises to execute an arrest warrant for persons who are the subject of proceedings for contempt of court or for summary offences. This resolves current uncertainty about whether officers can use reasonable force. There have been occasions when an arrest warrant has not been executed due to this uncertainty.

Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act amendments

The amendments will confer jurisdiction on the Federal Circuit Court of Australia to hear certain Commonwealth tenancy disputes. These amendments are vital in order to provide a suitable forum to hear these disputes.

At present, in most jurisdictions, the applicable law provides for Commonwealth tenancy disputes to be resolved in state or territory tribunals, which can lead to inconsistency of approach. While superior courts may also be able to hear these matters, it is not considered an appropriate use of these courts' resources as it may lengthen the dispute resolution process and increase costs. This means that there is currently no suitable or affordable forum to hear these disputes. Conferring jurisdiction on the Federal Circuit Court of Australia to hear these disputes provides a cost effective option and will provide a consistent forum available across Australia.

Additionally, amendments to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act will clarify specific limitations on the award of costs prescribed in other legislation, such as public interest disclosure legislation. This will clarify the limitations on the Federal Circuit Court's jurisdiction to award costs and will assist readers to locate related provisions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this Bill will provide a more suitable and cost effective forum for the resolution of certain Commonwealth tenancy disputes.

This Bill will also improve the operation and clarity of the Federal Court of Australia Act and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act, which will contribute towards streamlining and reducing the complexity associated with navigating the justice system.

TREASURY LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS (REPEAL DAY) BILL 2014

The Government is committed to cutting red tape costs by $1 billion a year to improve our nation's competitiveness, help to create more jobs and lower household costs. This is a critical step towards improving Australia's productivity.

'Red tape', which is an umbrella term for excessive and unnecessary regulation, reduces productivity and investment, stifles job creation, creates uncertainty and saps confidence. Red tape prevents business from getting on with the job, and places heavy demands on the community's time and resources that could better be spent elsewhere.

It goes without saying therefore that reducing red tape across the economy will create an enormous opportunity to increase Australia's productivity and competitiveness.

Deregulation—the process of eliminating red tape—needs a whole-of-government approach to tackling excessive or unnecessary regulations, no matter how big. The goal is long-term cultural change, from the bureaucracy to the ministry, for the betterment of the community.

We want to see a paradigm shift in Australia's approach to regulation, whereby new standards, rules and compliance burdens are never used as the default option, but are only introduced as a last resort and only after alternatives have been assessed and the cost of new regulation fully understood.

We also want a renewed focus on ensuring that existing regulation is as efficient as possible, and is only retained where the benefits clearly outweigh the costs.

The Government's deregulation efforts are therefore focused on a number of key areas including actively reducing the volume of regulation.

Following on from the first Repeal Day back in March, the Government has continued its commitment to repeal counterproductive, unnecessary and redundant legislation and regulations.

Our reforms to drive red tape reduction across Government are also paying dividends in streamlining administration.

On 20 June 2014 the Government announced administrative changes to the entry thresholds for the PAYG instalments system, reducing the number of taxpayers required to pay instalments. The thresholds, which had not been reviewed since 2001-02, were changed as follows:

the business or investment income threshold increased from $2,000 to $4,000;

the balance of assessment threshold increased from $500 to $1,000;

the notional tax threshold increased from $250 to $500; and

the requirement for entities registered for goods and services tax to remain in the system despite having a zero instalment rate was removed.

The Australian Taxation Office has estimated that this will remove more than 560,000 taxpayers from the pay-as-you-go instalments system and lead to annual savings of $67.3 million in compliance costs.

On 18 August 2014 the Government announced its chosen model for transforming the existing Australian Small Business Commissioner into a Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman will be a Commonwealth-wide advocate for small businesses and family enterprises and contribute to the development of small business friendly Commonwealth laws and regulations.

The Ombudsman will also provide a concierge service to help small businesses resolve disputes fairly and efficiently.

On 21 August 2014 the Government implemented changes to the SuperStream regulations to remove the requirement for employers to use a unique 'payment reference number' when making superannuation contributions.

Removing this provision allows employers and funds to retain existing payment processes and ensures balances are allocated to member accounts in a timely fashion. This has been estimated to lead to an annual saving of $3.8 million in compliance costs.

Today, on the Government's second Repeal Day, we are building on these initiatives to cut red tape.

This Bill—one of a number of Bills introduced today—forms part of our whole-of-government commitment to repeal counterproductive, unnecessary and redundant legislation and consequently removing associated regulations.

This Bill amends various laws relating to taxation, superannuation and shareholdings in certain financial sector companies to implement a range of improvements to Australia's laws.

Schedule 1 to this Bill will repeal the payslip reporting provisions in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 that would have increased the regulatory burden on employers beyond that currently imposed under the Fair Work legislation.

There are existing requirements in the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Fair Work Regulations 2009 that require employers to include on payslips the amount of superannuation contributions they are liable to make. This Bill will not make any change to these existing requirements.

The current payslip reporting provisions in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 require employers to include in employee payslips information prescribed by the regulations. Labor had intended that regulations be made so that employers had to report on payslips the amount of superannuation contributions and the date on which the employer expects to pay them. Labor never made these regulations.

Removing these provisions will reduce unnecessary duplication in the law and provide certainty to employers so they do not need to be preparing for costly upgrades to their payslip reporting software.

Schedule 2 to this Bill simplifies the taxation laws by consolidating duplicated taxation administration provisions contained in various taxation Acts into a single set of provisions in the Taxation Administration Act 1953.

Schedule 2 to this Bill also repeals spent or redundant taxation laws, such as the older harsh penalty regimes, and moves longstanding regulations into the primary law. Tidying up our tax laws in line with good legislative practices is an important part of the care and maintenance of our tax system.

Schedule 3 to this Bill amends the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 so that persons who do not hold a direct control interest in a financial sector company will no longer be deemed to have a stake in that financial sector company as a consequence of their associates' direct control interest.

Currently the law requires the associates of a person, such as a person's relatives, partner or related companies, who is seeking a shareholding in excess of 15 per cent to also seek approval from the Treasurer for the shareholding.

This is required irrespective of whether an associate has any actual shareholding or financial interest in the company in which the new shareholding is sought.

These associates are caught by the wide definition of associate under the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 which requires them to undertake this action for no policy benefit.

The changes in this Bill remove an unnecessary burden for associates with no direct interest in the company without compromising the examination of a shareholder's controlling interest. Associates will no longer be caught in a technical trap that requires them to hold approval from the Treasurer under the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act1998.

Schedule 4 to this Bill addresses the fact that, currently, the definition of 'Australia' for taxation purposes is complex, overly detailed and expressed differently in different parts of the taxation laws, despite the fact that the laws are intended to achieve a simple and largely equivalent result.

Schedule 4 rewrites the definition of 'Australia' into a single location in the tax law for use across all the tax laws in a simple and coherent form.

This will involve amending various tax laws, taking another step towards achieving a single income tax assessment act for Australia.

In conclusion, these changes will improve the operation of tax law and remove unnecessary red tape from the superannuation law and shareholder regulatory framework.

Combined with our reforms that are driving regulators and the public service to cut red and green tape, these changes add up.

Removing even small grains of sand from an engine allows the whole machine to operate more efficiently.

In the same way, progressively removing individual pieces of unnecessary red tape and regulation, and making our laws simpler and shorter, plays an important role in helping Australia's economy become more efficient.

On our second Repeal Day, we are building on the progress we have already made—right across Government—to cut red and green tape.

Full details of these measures are contained in the explanatory memorandum.